Re: metapackages and setting config files in /etc and /home/dir
Hi Wouter,
On Wed, Jan 13, 2016 at 4:37 AM, Wouter Verhelst <wouter@debian.org> wrote:
>> On the other hand, I was really hoping for an install that looks like this:
>>
>> - install xorg, lightdm, window_manager, etc
>>
>> - populate /etc/skel
>>
>> - create user and copy /etc/skel to $HOME
>
> That is something you *can* do, and is perfectly fine. As long as you
> don't overwrite files already there, there's nothing wrong with writing
> new files to /etc/skel.
>
> However, you should note that it is also of limited value, since
> new files in /etc/skel are not written to the home-directories of users
> already created before the package was installed or upgraded. For that
> reason, Debian policy also states you should not require that such files
> exist or have a particular value.
>
> If the goal is to create a pure blend that makes it easy to recreate a
> particular environment on a new system, however, then creating files in
> /etc/skel may well be the best way forward. You should, however, also
> make it clear in your documentation that you're doing so, how it may
> fail ("it won't work for users who were created before package X was
> installed") and how people can work around that issue ("copy file X, Y,
> and Z from /etc/skel to your home directory").
Thanks for the guidance. The more I learn about this issue, the more I
understand that the best solution is to contact upstream developers
and request they change their packaging to allow for third party
configurations.
Good advice, I appreciate it,
Steve
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